Stay on Movement of Bhopal Waste

The Jabalpur Bench of the Madhya Pradesh High Court, on July 28, ordered the Madhya Pradesh Pollution Control Board (MPPCB) to not allow any movement of toxic waste from Bhopal's Union Carbide site to the Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO) incineration facility at Butibori near Nagpur. The movement has been stayed till the next hearing which is scheduled for August 11. The court also directed the pollution control boards of both the states to inspect the defunct plant site in Bhopal.

The court was addressing an intervention appeal filed by the Maharashtra government against the MP High Court's order of July 12 that allowed the incineration of toxic waste of the Union Carbide plant in Nagpur. The appeal was filed by the Maharashtra government.

Maharashtra government claimed that Madhya Pradesh had not sought a No Objection Certificate (NOC) from them. In the intervention appeal the Maharashtra government added that since there was a facility in Pithampur, near Indore, to treat such waste, the waste should be disposed off within the state itself.